Civil Rights Post Nominee Grilled on Customs Offense

William Lucas, nominated to be the government’s chief civil rights enforcer, was questioned sharply today about why he and his family were fined in 1985 for failing to declare $8,900 worth of purchases to U.S. Customs inspectors.

Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) cited a U.S. Customs Service report that the Lucas family failed to disclose the purchases when they passed through customs at the Seattle airport after a trip to Japan and South Korea.

“How do you explain concealing receipts and merchandise from the customs inspectors?” Metzenbaum asked.

Lucas said the customs violation involved several pieces of jewelry carried in a cosmetics case by a member of his family, whom he did not identify. He was not aware of all the purchases his wife and daughters made during their trip, Lucas said.

‘I Wasn’t Searched’

The questioning took place as the Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings on Lucas’ nomination to be assistant attorney general for civil rights. He said he had discussed the customs fine with committee investigators.

Metzenbaum asked why Lucas failed to disclose on a committee questionnaire that he had once been investigated for violating customs regulations for which he was fined. The senator did not disclose the amount Lucas was fined for trying to conceal undeclared merchandise.

There was no investigation, Lucas said.

“You didn’t think when they went through your pockets and the pockets of your family that that wasn’t an investigation?” the Ohio Democrat asked.

“I wasn’t searched, nor did I consider that an investigation,” Lucas responded.

‘Serious Questions’ Cited

Earlier, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Joseph R. Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned whether Lucas met professional qualifications to be assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Biden, who said he was “favorably disposed toward you,” told Lucas that “one of the things you’re going to have to speak to is your lack of technical legal experience.”

“I think it’s important to determine why and how deeply committed you are to enforcing the civil rights laws of this land,” Biden said.

“It remains to be seen whether Mr. Lucas is the right man for this important job,” Kennedy said during an opening statement. “A number of serious questions need to be raised.”

The Justice Department acknowledged on the eve of today’s hearing that Lucas, a black Republican from Michigan, failed to state on a 1981 New York State Bar application that he had once failed a bar exam in the District of Columbia.